Imagine you have a big high resolution screen, like a 2560x1440 resolution 27" iMac. Then imagine that graphics performance is unlimited and you can draw as much as you want. Then imagine you have a 2D vector graphics/filled curves algorithm that works fast at full framerate with beautiful antialiasing, and offers unlimited fillrate and an unlimited number of filled curves. Then imagine you don’t use any textures whatsoever, just realtime vector graphics and everything is animatable. Then imagine you want to create a game showing this all of. What kind of a game would you make?
Why do you ask?
I think I can make a circle,lots of them that’s the only thing I can draw using vector graphics
Bombercat was entirely done in vector graphics. They did get rendered to bitmaps for the game, but I guess I would make a Bombercat game that would be perfectly sharp at any resolution level.
I ask because I just bought a new 27" imac with a 2560x1440 display and I have code to generate filled curves really fast, so I want to create something cool with it. But since there are very few desktop games, if any, in high resolution that use realtime vectorgraphics, I’m a bit at a loss for what to make with it. I’m leaning a bit towards a shootemup but maybe you guys have better ideas. I have thought about a platformer along the lines of locoroco.
Vector games are not that rare actually. Many Flash games are vector based, or at least most the early generation games were, not sure nowdays.
Perhaps but they are usually small games in a small window, not high resolution on a big screen. Still, my question is what kind of game could be made with vector graphics in a high resolution display.
Is this done in Unity?
My suggestion would be to make a flash exporter so that you could make a scene in Flash and import it in Unity. Team Meat did this in their latest game (EDIT: to clarify, their using their own engine). Think that would be both really cool and useful.
Yes it’s in Unity. There are ways to do it, like with Rage Spline, but I found it to be an incredible hog producing massive amounts of geometry for what I wanted to do, so I made my own which is much more efficient.
I’ve come up with a pretty good idea I think will fit well with the kind of things that can be done with vector graphics - since nobody else seemed to be suggesting anything ;-D
lol but that’s ok, I was being lazy to ask anyway.
I create most of my graphics as vectors, but then export them as raster graphics because vectors aren’t really an option on iOS.
The big advantage of vectors is that they scale very well, so would be good on a game where you can zoom in and out. For example a real-time strategy game where you can view the whole battlefield, or focus on a small skirmish, but never have to worry about pixelation.
I think it pretty much goes down to using vector images instead of sprites. Advantages of this really come down to ability to completely distort the image without pixelation or blurring (like stretching, squashing or resizing.)
Your other option is making psychedelic procedural art games, things that look like Geometry Wars but actually achieved with randomly generated geometry.
How about releasing your vector graphics logic on the app store or something. Would love to take if for a spin. I’ve used Rage-Spline and it gets the job done, but it could be taken SO much further.
-Jeff
I was thinking about geometry wars actually but the art style there is mostly based on glowing lines, and although lines are sort of vectorgraphics they aren’t filled shapes so I’m not sure how that would adapt.
As far as asset store - no, I intend to keep the technology private for now. But if I see there is enough demand I can consider it.
Correct me if I’m wrong… but if you can draw vectors really fast; you can easily create the equivalent of google-earth in a 2.5D (ala flash) environment. Use that setup for immence scaling-up / down (zoom in/out) without quality change. Add some layer-cull and you can basically have an interactive 2.5D vectorial “mini-earth”.
What you do with it… well, I guess there are no limits. Animation will be another bag of worms though… per frame or curve interpolation?
Vectrosity is good for this also. And, the thought that came into my head was having a touch screen and making lots of things move around and collide.
Gigi.
Stick-figure, open world sandbox game - you could make something ridiculously massive. Oh the possibilities…
How would a sandbox game work with 2d vectors? Like a platformer? The google-earth super zoom feature sounds pretty cool, but google earth isn’t a game… but hmmm.
2d can be top down too.
For a game, I’d probably make a game where you run around merging with other vectors as you collide with them. Maybe they stick to you and form a new shape, or grow your original shape. You can also shoot projectiles of drops of whatever you’re made out of…example a pile of goo/slime that can shoot pieces of goo, or can run into goo of their same type to “grow” in size and power.
Dunno, that’s kinda like asking what would you write if you had a pen and unlimited paper? 
damn it, you need to get out of my head!
Literally endless detail. I doubt anyone here would know what do with themselves. For said sandbox game, Technically the player could edit -anything-. infinitetly complex terrain, any amount of objects… and probably some concept that has yet to exist. There is a flash game though, (I’d have to find it again) which is truly a representation of vector awesomeness. You can zoom in through objects down to particle level (atoms to universal foam) and zoom out to the universe, starting from a human. It’s pretty amazing.
Kaleidoscope?